Bill Sims to be honored at 37th Annual Sheep and Goat Field Day

Bill Sims to be honored at 37th Annual Sheep and Goat Field Day

SAN ANGELO – “Livestock Solutions: Predation Management and Protection Options” will be the theme of this year’s 37th annual Sheep and Goat Field Day Sept. 2 at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at San Angelo.

The event will start with registration at 8 a.m. at the center, which is located just north of San Angelo on U.S. Highway 87.

Dr. John Walker, resident director of research, said the day’s highlight will be the dedication of the Bill Sims Wool and Mohair Research Laboratory.

Sims, a former senator and longtime executive secretary of the San Angelo-based Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers’ Association, was instrumental in orchestrating the establishment of the animal fiber laboratory here, Walker said.

“It is one of only four (three academic, one commercial) in the nation,” Walker said. “Sims worked with industry leaders, commodity groups our staff and state and national legislators to make the dream of having a natural fiber laboratory in San Angelo a reality.”

Dr. Chris Lupton of AgriLife Research who is in charge of the laboratory, said the facility was established in 1985 to address specific needs in the national sheep and goat, wool and mohair research programs.

Key field-day topics and speakers will include:

– American Sheep Industry Survey: Sheep and Predation, Michael Marlow U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife biologist, Fort Collins, Colo.

– Producer Experiences with Livestock Protection Dogs, Bob Buchholz, rancher, Eldorado.

– Livestock Protection Dogs: What’s Important, What’s Not, What They Cost and Are
They Worth It?, Walker.

– Effects of Predation on Wildlife, Bruce Leland, Texas AgriLife Extension Wildlife Services, San Antonio.

– Interpreting Physical Evidence of Predation, Dr. Dale Rollins, AgriLife Extension wildlife specialist, San Angelo.

Following a catered noon lunch, the field-day program will resume with industry updates from the Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers’ Association, Mohair Council of America, Producer’s Marketing Cooperative, Inc., and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The field day will conclude with a talk on generic herbicides by Dr. Allan McGinty, AgriLife Extension range specialist at San Angelo.

Three Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units, two in the general category and one in integrated pest management, will be available for those with a private applicators license.

For more information, contact the center at 325-653-4576.

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